Design Your Business | Empowering Creative Women Business Owners

Are you any better at self-care than I am? Self-care is something I find extremely difficult, but I also believe it’s extremely important. I know I need to work on it, so I thought maybe we could do it together. Does that sound okay?  In this episode of the Design Your Business podcast, I’m using Stacy Fisher’s eight dimensions of self-care as a framework to talk about self-care that goes deeper t...

Could you use some help getting your business and life back on track for the second half of the year? In this episode of the newly rebranded Design Your Business podcast, I’m taking you through three areas to focus on to recenter yourself: work-life harmony, boundaries, and life goals.  You’ll have to tune in to the episode to find out why I chose these three areas and what I’m doing to stay on tr...

Have you ever felt like a sleazy salesperson? It’s the worst, right? In this episode, we’re talking about how to make sales non-sleazy with Annie P. Ruggles. This episode is an absolute must-listen, as Annie P. is sharing some priceless tips on how to prepare for, execute, and follow up on your sales calls. She’s teaching you the language she uses to have great sales conversations every single tim...

Who is your ideal client? Maybe you’ve got it nailed down or maybe you've never thought about this before. Even if you do have an idea of who your ideal client is, this is something that is constantly evolving. In this episode, we’re covering who your ideal client is, how to talk to your ideal client, and how to create your ideal client. I’m also sharing examples of my ideal clients for each...

Are you ready to be the wedding professional that everyone is talking about? In this episode, I’m joined by wedding-professional mentor Carin Hunt to talk about how to become the wedding pro on everyone's lips.  Getting the word out about your business goes beyond pretty logos and websites. There’s only so much you can do before you actually have to start putting yourself in front of people,...

Do you get overwhelmed trying to create content for all the platforms? If you do, are you repurposing the content you already have? In this episode of Design Your Business, Amy Leisner and I are teaching you how to show up more for your audience without burning out trying to create new content. You’ll learn how to take the content you already have and use it in multiple areas of your business to c...

When was the last time you updated your contracts? This episode is about ensuring that your contracts are in tip-top shape and that you are covered when things go awry. Let’s face it, not everything is within our control; sometimes things go wrong. What is within your control is how you are legally protecting yourself from the fallout if something does go wrong when you’re working with a client. O...

Do you want to know a simple way to upgrade your marketing content? In this episode, we are talking about all things branding photography.  But who needs branding photography? When should you get it done? How do you know you’re going to like the photos? Find the answers to these questions and more in this episode of the Design Your Wedding Business podcast. Cayla and David Cummings from Carhart Ph...

What is a content creator and how do you use one in your business? Is a content creator the same as an influencer? What about a photographer or videographer? Do I really need all of them?  I set out to answer all these questions and more in this episode of Design Your Wedding Business with the help of Seattle-based content creator Sheena Kalso. Sheena is here to walk you through everything you nee...

If you could sit down with a human resources professional, what would you ask them? This episode on the Design Your Wedding Business podcast is your opportunity to spend 30 minutes with your very own HR representative. Deliece Knights-Barnett is here to teach you everything you need to know about hiring and managing employees with professionalism and efficiency.  Deliece Knights-Barnett is the fou...

Pop the champagne and cut the cake because it’s the Design Your Wedding Business podcast’s second anniversary! Things are going to be changing around here, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to sit down for a chat and talk about how far the podcast has come and what direction it’s headed in. I’m so excited to talk to you about what I have planned for year three, so don’t go anywhere bec...

Do you dream of being the wedding planner who all the local wedding professionals want to work with? Listen up!  In this episode of Design Your Wedding Business, I’m connecting with DJ Craig Slater to learn about his corner of the industry and discuss how we as wedding planners can better serve our clients and build stronger relationships with other wedding professionals. He’s sharing everything y...

Are you considering diversity and inclusivity in your wedding planning process?  In this episode of Design Your Wedding Business, De Evans and I discuss the promotion of diversity and inclusivity, how to diversify your network of wedding professionals, and how to ensure that your weddings are inclusive for all guests and vendors.  De Evans Events creates epic weddings for epic couples. Diversity i...

When was the last time you took a vacation? Summer is approaching and wedding season is ramping up at the same time, so you might be wondering how to take time for yourself and your family while still working with clients and getting everything done.  In this episode of the Design Your Wedding Business podcast, I’m sharing my advice on how to take a vacation even when you think you’re too busy to...

What’s it like to work with a wedding photographer? In this series on the Design Your Wedding Business podcast, I’m connecting with one wedding professional each week to talk about how we as wedding planners can better educate ourselves and our clients about different areas of the industry. In this episode, we’re learning all about wedding photography from Amy Soper.  Amy is a Woodinville wedding...

How do you know if you are moving in the right direction? KPIs (key performance indicators) are the best way to see how your business is doing. Tayler Cusick-Hollman is returning to the Design Your Wedding Business podcast to teach you what KPIs are, which ones you need to know, and how to use them.  If you have a hard time figuring out what marketing strategies are working well for you, this epis...

Sales. The word that triggers some kind of emotional reaction in all of us.  Whether you love the sales process or you cringe at the thought of it, this episode of the Design Your Wedding Business podcast will help you perfect it. Sam Jacobson is here to help us with the good, the bad, and the ugly of all things sales-related for wedding planners and other professionals.  Sam is showing you how to...

I can’t believe this is Episode 100 of the Design Your Wedding Business podcast! Whether you’re a long-time listener or a newbie, thank you so much for being here.  In this 100th episode, we’re talking about visibility for your wedding business. We spend a lot of time thinking and talking about marketing, but what if we’re focusing our attention on the wrong thing? What you really need is visibili...

Does SEO bring out the procrastinator in you? Yeah, me too.  When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), many of us don’t know what to do or where to start. Well, you’re in luck because Sara Dunn is here to show you how easy it can be.  In this episode of Design Your Wedding Business, Sara is teaching you the basics of SEO for wedding professionals so that you can break through the overwhel...

Are you trying to do your own market research in the wedding industry? We all know that we need to be doing our research and looking at data, but it’s hard to know where to start or what to look for. In this episode on the Design Your Wedding Business podcast, Shane McMurray is sharing everything you need to start researching your market and what’s going on within it. This episode will teach you w...

Have you been thinking about sprucing up your website?  It’s not uncommon to find that updating your website gets bumped down your list of priorities and before you know it it’s been five or more years since you last gave it a refresh. Maybe that’s you, or maybe you’re setting up your website for the first time, either way, I want to make sure your website is working for you in the best possible w...

What questions do you have about working with rental companies as a wedding planner? With a bit of luck, by the end of this episode, we’ll have those questions answered.  When I had a team, I would ask top wedding professionals to come and talk to us about their corner of the industry so that we could better serve our clients and build stronger relationships with other wedding professionals. Now,...

If you have questions about working with a hair and makeup artist but are unsure who to ask, you’re in luck!  In this episode on the Design Your Wedding Business podcast, we’re talking to makeup artist Anne Timss about what it’s like for a wedding planner and makeup artist to work together and what that process looks like. Anne is covering wedding makeup trends, planning hair and makeup into the w...

If you’ve never worked directly with a florist before, you might be wondering what that process looks like.  Wonder no more because Judi Tschudia is here on Design Your Wedding Business to walk you through the entire process of floral design for weddings from start to finish.  Judi is getting into the nitty gritty of everything that goes into wedding floristry and what you and your clients need to...

How do you get into planning destination weddings? Maybe you got into the wedding industry with a dream of doing destination weddings or maybe you’re looking to try something new. Whatever has led you here, we’ve got answers for you in this episode of Design Your Wedding Business.  Natalie John is here to talk all things destination weddings. She’s teaching you how to get into them, what mistakes...